European allies want to send "a strong signal of support for Ukraine" at the NATO summit in Ankara in July, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said after hosting the leaders of France, Britain, Italy and Poland in Berlin.
“The message to Russia is: Ukraine remains strong,” Merz said at a joint press event on Wednesday, after the leaders also held a video call with NATO chief Mark Rutte.
Merz said Germany was proposing that European NATO allies make a “strong financing commitment” to Kiev, stressing that Europe’s support for Ukraine “is not wavering”.
He had invited French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for talks in the so-called E5 format ahead of the July 7-8 summit in the Turkish capital.
Leaders from all 32 NATO member states, including US President Donald Trump, are expected to attend the summit.
In a joint statement, the E5 leaders pledged “to further substantially support Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression”, including through sanctions and economic pressure on Russia, as well as support for the resilience of Ukraine’s energy sector.
Merz said he would brief Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the outcome of the Berlin talks.
Renewed unity at G7
The meeting followed a G7 summit in the French town of Evian last week, where leaders hailed what they described as renewed unity on increasing pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine.
The three-day meeting, which also focused on the US war with Iran, saw G7 leaders discuss efforts to push Moscow towards peace talks through tougher sanctions.
“Since the G7 summit in Evian, we can add that, across the Atlantic, we are more united than we have been for a long time,” Merz said. “We hope that Moscow will draw conclusions from this. It is time to enter into peace talks.”
Macron echoed this sentiment, hailing a moment of “reconvergence between Europeans and Americans” at the G7.
“For the first time in 18 months, all the members of the G7 signed the same text together, and the Americans, along with us, declared that they support Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he said.
